Star Wars The New Age
by SirenTemptress
Summary: She had no idea who she was, all she knew was that her home wasn't where she belonged. Inspired and based on and around The Force Awakens. Enjoy! Caution: Prologue contains spoilers for Aftermath: The Empire's End.
1. Prologue

Star Wars; The New Age

Prologue;

He could feel it, the darkness. Every so often it would creep up on him, tempting him and suffocating him all at the same time. He didn't know what to do.

He felt betrayed. His parents had sent him away, along with his younger siblings, to learn the ways of the force, the light side that is.

Benjamin Luke Solo found life difficult. The torture of whether to slaughter his fellow learners like animals or concentrate on trying to do better by his family constantly drove him insane.

Until one day. The day he decided to silence the voices in his head. The day he made his choice.

It was dark and cold outside. The same dreary weather that constantly surrounded them on Tatooine, its climate having changed due to the growing presence of old Republic technology.

Ben woke his eyes jolting open wide as he heard thunder crash outside his window. Not long after, he heard the ringing of the training alarm. A practise duel session for all the padawans was about to begin.

Ben got dressed before opening his door and following the other pupils down the corridor. From the corner of his eye he saw his uncle, Luke Skywalker, go into a chamber where he would be able to watch this last training session that Ben would provide for the youngsters before they became jedi.

They came again, the voices. Ben had battled with them for almost 23 years and now it would come to an end, tonight.

He watched the youngsters duel, he saw his younger siblings win against their opponents every time. After his last dual his brother, Anakin Jr. made an excuse to leave, as he did after most duals.

Now it was time to prove himself. Ben looked up to the viewing box and watched as Luke left it, making his way to the main training hanger to replace Ben and supervise the duels.

But now it was Ben's turn, saved until last so that he could prove to his uncle that he was a worthy apprentice over the other force sensitive beings around his age. His opponent was a young twi-lek man, no more than a year younger than him. Ben began the duel, thrashing at the twi-lek with the training sabers they used for practise, until the twi-lek missed Ben's saber and ended up burning his neck.

All day, Ben was hoping no one would provide a trigger for him. Now that hope was lost.

Luke held up his hand signalling for the duel to stop, but it was too late.

Giving in to all of his anger, fear and sadness, Ben used the force to break off the heavy steel door. Pushing it towards the twi-lek, he didn't let go until his opponent was crushed and his blood made a puddle on the floor.

He could still feel his anger as his classmates ran, screaming for their lives. As Ben left the duelling station, he again used the force. This time to pull his younger siblings towards him. He only wanted them close, but he lost control and was afraid to look at where his siblings bodies lay after they had hit the wall behind him.

Ben looked at the floor, feeling the dark side of the force surrounding him. He went through the front door of the New Temple that the young jedi had been trained in and saw five others, dresses head to toe in black, complete with helmets. One of them passed Ben one.

"Welcome to the first order, Jedi Killer."


	2. Chapter 1: Jakku

Chapter 1: Jakku

Attora's POV

I woke up earlier than usual. The centre of Jakku was a small closed in space compared to the other civilisations surrounding it. I lived in the centre of the small mass of sand buildings man people called home. I woke up early due to my droid going crazy.

C4-F2 was a large rotary droid. Painted blue and ivory, he came up to my waist in height and I'm just over 5'5" myself. C4 was made up of old droid parts that I had bought from various scrap yards as well as a few pieces I had lying around, even though I had barely any idea where the majority of them even came from.

That was the same for the majority of my life. I'm 26 years old and don't have any memory of my life before I was 14 or 15, and occasionally I blacked out between the ages of 15 and 20, causing my memory to lack even more.

My job here was to fix droids and machines. I travelled from town to town, civilisation to civilisation; fixing anything that needed to be fixed for whatever price it was worth.

My boss, Pucko, was a large, fat man. His skin was a faded green colour and his eyes were large purple balls. He also had a thin mop of dusty brown hair that spiked out in different directions and at different lengths; he even had a piece an inch wide that grew all the way down his back. He also smelt as bad as the animals did here. But he was kind and he also rented my house to me, and raised me. His wife was the same species as him. She was also large, although skinner then her husband, and had the same green skin and purple eyes. The main difference between then was that she had a thin bob of dark brown hair and she washed as often as she deemed necessary, which to her meant once every couple of weeks, which was amazing compared to Pucko's one wash every three or four months. Her name was Vara, she and Pucko were the closest things to parents that I had ever had.

Today, I was on my way to Tuanul. Usually, someone like me wouldn't have to go there. The people there, the worshipers of the Church of the Force, usually made and fixed their own technology. Only this time, the part they needed was of modern technology and no one in Tuanul knew how it worked or how to fit it. The part was for Tuanul's main source of electricity and modern technology, to them, was a last chance scenario that they always hope to avoid.

Once I washed my face, I got dressed. I only had a few items of clothing and two pairs of shoes, I could basically fit all the clothing I had into one backpack. I put on a pair of close fitting cotton cream trousers, which had the inner leg reinforced. I had a curvy figure which caused me to go through trousers quite rapidly. I then paired it with a long sleeves ice blue tunic that wrapped around my body and was fastened by matching ties and a cream belt. I then put on my dusty cream boots, stained from the amount of sand that got attached to them throughout the time I had owned them. Most of my clothing was either neutral colours or blue. I don't know why, I just felt comfortable with those colours, plus they went with my features.

I was of average height and I was average in looks. I had thick, dirty blonde hair that reached the end of my ribcage in length. It had been cut into a faintly layered style with a full fringe by my boss's wife, she gave me little choice in how my hair looked the majority of the time. She had such little hair herself that on my days off, I'm forced to being her styling doll. My skin had a golden tone from it, most likely from the sun but I don't remember my skin any different so I didn't know. I had bright blue eyes, the same colour as the lasers in some of the guns I'd seen. My figure, as I have said, was curvy. I had a larger chest then most women my species, which I have seen, have and muscled legs.

The journey to Tuanul was a long one; it takes the majority of the day to get to Tuanul from the main city of the planet where I lived. I loaded up my trailer speeder. It was a lightweight mode of transport made from a few older models left lying around. On the back, the hover trailer was a little rusty but still did the job it needed to. I strapped the part to the trailer, along with C4-F2, and made my way to the small town in the Kelvin Ravine.

The sun was setting by the time I got there. I got off my speeder and started unloading my things when I could sense someone coming towards me. The sense was a dull yet alerting feeling that went from my brain to my stomach, drawing me to attention.

"I haven't met one as strong as you in a while, my dear." The older man said, his voice rough and hoarse.

"Um...I'm sorry; I have no idea what you mean." Was all I could reply.

"You will, my dear. I am Lor San Tekka." He said, holding out his aged hand towards me.

"Attora" I told him, taking his hand. "Attora Ken."

"Attora, Nubian for Princess of the Stars. Beautiful name." He went on, ending as if he was losing his trail of thought.

"Thank you." I replied, quite taken a back.

I started fitting the part, with the help of my droid, when C4 suddenly started going crazy. The squeaky bleeps he was making started so abruptly that I banged my head as I jumped. That was when I came back into the real world. I had been concentrating so much on what I was doing that I had no idea what was going on around me. I looked up and saw what was going on. Another rotary droid that seemed familiar to me was also doing the same thing. This one was a couple of inches smaller than mine and was orange and white in colour. I couldn't remember where I'd seen the droid before until its master identified it.

"BB-8, what's going on?"

I quickly nudged C4 and got him back to work. The new rotary droid, BB-8 was a droid I had constructed about 7 or 8 years ago and was newer version of my C4 unit, made smaller and lighter as well as being able to do more tasks then a standard R2 unit. Sadly, I had to sell BB-8 to pilot looking for a droid companion for his son so that I could get parts to fix an old duel pilot X-Wing fighter I had saved from a junkyard.

I then snuck a quick look at the droid's master. He had on leather jacket and the ship he'd arrived in had an orange symbol on it that I had seen in my dreams every night since I got to Jakku. I then shook my head and got back to work.

I packed up as soon as I had finished, as I wanted to get back home before the temperature picked up again. By the time I was finished, the skies was becoming dark and the air slightly cooler, but not cool enough to make a difference. I reported back to Lor San Tekka to let him know that I had finished and refused to take pay. I felt guilty taking anything from such a kind place that had so little compared to where I was.

It was early the next morning when I got home. I got some of my own money together to Pucko in replace of the fee I didn't take. I then made myself some food before turning C4-F2 off and going to bed. The lack of electricity and fuel we had was not worth leaving him active. The only times I did was when I needed an alarm to wake me up early.

It was too bad that I was too far away from Tuanul to know of how the events that took place after I left would affect me, especially in the coming days...

Poe's POV

The task that General Organa gave me was of maximum importance. She trusted me, out of everyone at her disposal, to retrieve a piece of the map that would lead to her brother Luke Skywalker. I knew I was a good pilot, my parents were pilots and I had passed the academy at the top of my class, but I still couldn't fathom why she asked me of all people to collect something worth so much to her.

I loaded BB-8, my rotary droid, onto my ship and left the Resistance Base in D'Qar for the dessert planet of Jakku. It wasn't too long a trip and I knew where I was going so everything should be ok. I left D'Qar when it was still light, by the time I got to Jakku, the sun there had already set.

When I got out of my ship, BB-8 started bleeping practically in hysterics. I gave my droid a confused look before then following where it was looking. There was another rotary droid by the electricity pillar that fuelled the Church of the Force. I also caught a glimpse of a girl, who didn't quite fit in with the small town, fixing it. She was more of a women then a girl, probably in her mid-twenties.

The women quickly glanced at me before shaking her head and getting back to work. That's when I heard the voice of the elderly man I was here to meet.

"Commander Dameron?" He asked, although it seemed to be more of a statement.

"Lor San Tekka" I identified him. I then shook his hand and followed him into his small hut.

When we were inside and safely out of the way of everyone else's eyes and ears, we started to properly talk.

"This will begin to make things right" he started, "I've travelled too far and seen too much to ignore the collective anguish that threatens the galaxy in a flood of dark despair." His voice was hoarse, faded and worried, but I let him carry on. "Something must be done; whatever the cost, whatever the danger. Without the Jedi, there can be no balance in the Force, and all will be given over to the dark side."

His thoughts were drifting around; I could see it in his eyes. Lor San Tekka then took a small silver drive, no longer then the width of my palm, and wrapped my fingers around it.

"The General has been after this for a long time." I told him, while I still tried to fathom why she chose me of all people to retrieve it.

"General? To me, she's royalty." He replied.

That was when BB-8 came in, bleeping like a lunatic. I went outside the hut, seeing everyone panic.

"You need to hide." I told Lor San.

"You need to leave." He replied.

I looked towards the fuel tower; the women fixing it had gone. I then turned my attention to getting back to my ship and back to the resistance. BB-8 loaded itself into my ship and turned on the engine, and then the back of my ship was blasted off.

I shot back before then getting out a checking the ship. There was no way I would be going anywhere anytime soon. I then went a knelt by my droid, after it had unloaded itself.

"Get as far away as you can. I'll come back for you." I said, giving BB-8 the drive holding the map to Luke Skywalker. I then looked up to see what was going on and if I could help. That was when I saw a black figure standing in front of Lor San Tekka. I could hear then talking.

"Look how old you have become." Said the black figure, his voice slightly muffled by the mask he was wearing.

"Something far worse has happened to you." Lor San replied, his voice sounding concerned.

"You know what I've come for." The black figure was tall and menacing.

"I know where you came from" Lor San was still sounding concerned, but also slightly confident. "Before you called yourself 'Kylo Ren'"

So that was the leader of the first order, this menacing figure dressed head to toe in black.

"The map to Luke Skywalker, we know you found it." Kylo Ren started, "And now you're going to give it to the First Order."

"The First Order rose from the Dark Side. You did not" replied Lor San. He sounded like he'd known Kylo Ren for a while.

"I'll show you the Dark Side."

"You may try, but you cannot deny the truth that is your family." Lor San replied to him. He was still confident, but I could feel in my gut that this wasn't going to end well.

"You're right" Kylo Ren then pulled out a red light saber, different to the sabre's that had been described to me in stories, and beheaded Lor San Tekka. Without thinking, I reacted. I pulled out my blaster and shot. That was when I found that that was probably the most stupid thing I could've done.

Kylo Ren used the force to stop the blast, holding the laser in mid air. He also used it to prevent me from moving. That was when two Stormtroopers came over and grabbed me by the arms, after one of them punched me in the stomach. I was taken before Kylo Ren, forced to kneel before him as my shot still hung in the air. There was an awkward silence, so I decided to do what I did best. Turn on the charm, even if it was in a sarcastic way.

I looked up into Kylo Ren's face...or mask...

"So...Do I talk first? Or you talk first? I talk first?"

"A Resistance pilot." Kylo Ren started, "Search him."

I was pulled to my feet, with the two Stormtroopers patting me down.

"Nothing." One of them replied.

"Take him to the ship." He ordered.

I was dragged to the ships ramp. As I was, I heard the Captain speak to Kylo Ren.

"Sir, the villagers?" She said.

"Kill them" He ordered.

All I could hear was blasters shooting innocents and their screams piercing the night.

All I could see, though, was the small chance I got to see the women with the bright blue eyes' face, and I was thankful for it.


	3. Chapter 2: The Double Rescue

**This chapter is dedicated to a close friend of mine who spends a lot of time looking up Star Wars; The Force Awakens script exerts for me and very kindly reads the majority of my stories and updates. So, this chapter is for you Destiny's Avenger! Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Chapter 2- A Double Rescue

Attora's POV

Mourning the loss of lives from the Tuanul massacre was killing everyone who knew about it, emotionally of course. Now that the threat of the First Order had reached Jakku, no one was really safe anymore. Every day for the week long mourning period ordered by the city council was like seeing everything in slow motion. The days were long; people moved around slowly with little expression on their faces. There were no longer young children running around screaming. Life was quieter then it had ever been here.

The two day long mourning period had been set in motion for longer than I could remember. It was put in place whenever a whole town was destroyed or if someone of political influence died, which hardly seemed fair to the destroyed towns. The way we mourned was odd. We didn't wear black, we didn't cry. Instead we carved the names of the deceased on a sand wall in the centre; we buried any bodies left in Tuanul. Any possessions they had were either buried with the bodies or taken by thieves and scavenger's

Scavenger's had already taken what they could by the time I visited and we had buried the bodies the night after the massacre. It horrified me to see the bodies just left there in a huge bundle, especially the bodies of several children. To harm a child or kill a child is to prove you have no heart and no ability to love. At least, that's my opinion.

The time I was called out to fix the fuel generator was the only other time I had been to Tuanul, but the people there had shown me so much kindness that I felt like I was being ripped apart. Vara had said that I had always been that and that my mother had had the same quality.

The central city, Cratertown, had been put on alert. The scanners were put into action as soon the news of what happened reached the city. The scanners reached just beyond the desert boundary, as the desert was mainly owned by the scavengers among other various tribes. We also have a defence patrol, which all able bodied civilians were forced to be a part of. However, nothing else has happened since the Tuanul massacre.

Cratertown was a larger settlement then Tuanul, with larger sand hut homes and more modern technology. Most civilians live in the huts, I was one of them. Most of the huts were between three and four stories high and existed of a small room with a kitchen and table, a bedroom with a small bed and then a bathroom. Mine was one of the exceptions as I was provided with a workshop due to my trade being an engineer/mechanic. There were no sources of running water except for a community tap for every three buildings, meaning three huts-all floors, and the water in the toilet. Each house was provided with a few plastic basins to fetch water with.

I woke up to the sound of bells being rung, the signal that the time for public mourning was over. Not that you could tell much. The risk of the First Order was still a prominent factor affecting the day to day life of Cratertown's people.

Today was the one day per week that I had off. I got out of bed to the protesting beeps of C4, he obviously wanted to sleep a bit longer but he also feels obligated to follow me everywhere. I washed my face in yesterday's water, it sounds grubby but it's not too bad. I got dressed into a pair of sand stained trousers that clung to my legs, a new long sleeved top the Vara had sent me last night and a pale blue sleeveless tunic. I pulled on one of three pairs of socks I owned and pulled on my knee high beige boots. I then put a knife garter on my leg before grabbing a random pear from the fruit bowl on my dining table.

Everyone in Cratertown now wore various weapons in case they had to defend themselves. This also brought the crime rate up, not that it was that low to begin with.

I went over to the council house. The council was a small group of self elected civilians put in place to keep order in Cratertown. The council house also had the daily patrol timetable on it. I would be on patrol tonight, luckily that meant I also had tomorrow off of work too as the night shifts are all night as opposed to being the few hours that the day shift was.

"Got the short straw, did ya'?" Trinton, a Twi-Lek who was my age, was always around when I had my days off it seemed.

Trinton was odd, to say the least. He had yellowy-orange skin and black eyes, but his smile was kind of comforting...

The majority of the time.

"At least I'm helping to protect the people. All you do is sit in your daddy's chair and order around your slaves." I replied.

Despite being kind of ok, Trinton wasn't opposed to social classes. He was also the son of one of the councillors and therefore didn't have to do any patrols.

"Someone got out of bed in the wrong side this morning." He stated.

"And the other one got out of someone else's bed this morning. Those are exactly the same clothes I saw you in when I got back from Grego's last night."

Trinton did sleep around, a lot.

"Well, good to see ya' anyway Tora."

He also liked trying to win one over me, even though I generally beat him.

I then decided to treat myself before my patrol. I went to Ergol's bar and sat at an empty table in the corner after getting a glass of watered down Knockback Nectar. It was the only decent drink other than water available on Jakku, although it's taste and alcohol content was a different story all together. Even though it tasted ok, the aftertaste was as bad as drinking motor oil. Drinking it diluted limited the strength of the after taste as well as limiting the side effects of drinking it.

"Hey kid." I looked up to see Pucko in all his slimy, bad smelling glory.

"What're you doing here?" I asked.

"I just closed on a new housing deal with Slooker. You?"

Slooker was a Dug; he was also as creepy and cruel as many of the others of his kind.

I smiled a Pucko. "I have absolutely nothing else to do except sit here until sunset." I replied, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Careful, girl." He warned, "You're clever, but your mouth isn't as smart as that brain of yours." We then both chuckled at his warning. "If Vara was here-"

"She would compare me to one of my so called 'parents' who are alive yet have no identity what so ever." We laughed again and clanked our glasses together.

Pucko and I spent that whole afternoon in the bar before my patrol. He bought me dinner then walked me to the scanners. The company made me less hurt and lonely then I would have felt if I'd been alone.

Ever since I went to Tuanul, I've felt less and less like myself. I don't feel like a belong here anymore, much less know anything about who I am anymore. It was horrible! It was like finding were you belong and having it ripped from you as soon as you find it. I have no idea who I am, who I'm supposed to be, where I am or where I'm supposed.

Just someone please give me a sign.

Anything.

Just...something...

* * *

Poe's POV

It was excruciating. The pain of having your mind attacked by the force, just because you have a small piece of information about what someone wanted.

I kept thinking about her, the girl I saw a glimpse of on Jakku. I kept thinking about how beautiful she was, how much freedom she must have.

I couldn't forget those blue eyes either. The colour was so pigmented you'd think they could glow in the dark. The colour matched that of the plasma bullets in the gun that was eventually turned against me, but I felt that if I were to try to forget them, I'd lose one of things keeping me alive right now. The only other thing keeping me alive was the hope that maybe I could survive this and maybe I could find BB-8 and that the Resistance would win this struggle between the Light and Dark sides of the force.

"I had no idea we had the best pilot of the Resistance on board." Kylo Ren's micking voice bought me out of my wishes and back into the excruciating pain that was my reality right now. "Comfortable?" He finished.

"Not really." I replied, returning his mocking tone with my sarcastic one.

"None of this unpleasantness need be necessary," He continued, "We both want the same thing from the old man."

"You may wanna rethink your technique." I replied, "Hard to get cooperation from a dead man."

Kylo Ren raised his right hand to be at my eye level. It always confused me how the force worked, how it was controlled by those who were force sensitive through a series of hand gestures.

"Where is it?" He asked, concentration and frustration were both evident in his voice.

"The resistance will not be intimidated by you." I replied, looking him dead in the eye, despite the pain and blood that was drying on my face.

"Where is it?" He replied, intensifying the amount of force he was using on me.

I saw a flash of those bright blue eyes looking back at me. I had to live, I had to get back.

A scream escaped me as the pain intensified again, most likely just for good measure on his part.

Then the events of Tuanul filled my head.

I'd lost. He'd won.

Kylo Ren then left the room. My head felt as light as air as it started to slowly heal itself. Then I felt the restraints, holding me to the torture chair I was strapped in, loosen. I was pulled from the chair by one of the Stormtroopers who served the First Order, and walked out. With a gun pointed at my chest.

Then I shoved into a small room just off of the main corridor.

"Listen to me." The Stormtrooper ordered. "You do exactly as I say and I get you out of here."

I had no idea what he was saying. Well, I did. I just didn't know why he was saying it. "What?" I asked.

The Stormtrooper removed his helmet. His face showed that he was excited, full of adrenaline and in a bit of a hurry.

"This is a rescue. I'm rescuing you." He told me, his breathing heavy. I'm not at all surprised by that, actually, considering the look of the guy's helmet.

"Are you with the Resistance?" I asked. It was a long shot, but still.

"What? No. Can you fly a TIE fighter?" He replied.

"I can fly anything." I stated, "Why are you helping me?" This was both odd and amusing.

"Because it's the right thing to do."

I looked at him, even more confused than my force force-vaporised brain already was, unconvinced.

"You need a pilot." It was becoming a bit more obvious now.

"I need a pilot." He confirmed.

I took a deep breath. "We're really gonna do this!" The prospect of escaping from the First Order was somewhat exciting.

The Stormtrooper replied with just a simple "Yeah".

We made a plan and stole one of the TIE fighters, by pretending I was being taken to Kylo Ren. It wasn't as smooth an operation as I had hoped it to be. We didn't exactly think about the fact that the fighters would be locked up.

As we tried to get away, we got shot at. That was to be expected, so the Stormtrooper shot back.

We escaped!

However the Stormtrooper, named FN-2187 and now Finn as I didn't want to call him by a code, wasn't too thrilled at the thought of going back to Jakku.

I wasn't too thrilled about the TIE fighter getting shot at. Now Jakku was our only choice.

We ejected our seats as soon as we went through the atmosphere. The ship crashed into the sand.

The rest is a blurry memory.

* * *

Attora's POV

Nothing had happened all night. Then, early in the morning, the alarms went off. The scanners had found something that didn't belong here, and it was a couple of hours before sunrise.

There was a scramble as I left my post for my speeder, leaving the others on the same patrol in the dust. There, apparently, was always a squabble to be the one to go and investigate of the scanners went off. They went off that rarely that any find was exciting.

My night vision goggles had the map already downloaded from the scanners showing on the visor for me to follow. Everyone on the patrol had goggles that downloaded the map as they were connected to the scanners anyway. I was the only one with a speeder, though. Or at least, with the fastest speeder in some cases.

I followed the map to find an unconscious, yet mumbling, man. I went over to the man, unbuckled him and rolled him over so that I could check for injuries and weapons.

As soon as I saw his face, I recognised who it was.

"Finn, where are you?" He asked.

I pulled him onto my speeder and made my way back to Jakku.

The man from Tuanul, I'd found him. And he was quite possibly dying.

A search party was sent out to find any sign of a wrecked ship and whoever this 'Finn' was.

The night air and the power of my speeder had hid any tracks made by the man.

'Finn' was never found.

But I had rescued the man who's face had been saved in the back of my mind.

And he saved me.


	4. Chapter 3: Freedom

Chapter 3- Freedom

Poe's POV

I woke up feeling very disorientated and with a horrible headache. As my eyes adjusted, realisation hit me. I had no idea where I was.

The last thing I remember was getting shot down in a TIE-fighter by a ship's plasma cannon.

I looked around and found myself to be in a small room, in which I was lying on the bed. I sat up, causing my head to spin, and found a couple of blankets and a pillow laid out on the floor by a cabinet. On top of the cabinet were two bowls of water. One of the bowls had a bloody rag hanging over it. That was when I caught my reflection in an old mirror.

My nose had a pink stain on it from bleeding; it was also swollen and bruised. That was when I remembered the ship crashing.

I was suddenly distracted from my memories by a crashing sound followed by beeping. I looked towards the sound and found a rotary droid. The droid reminded me of BB-8; however it was taller, wider and had an older look about it. This was probably due to the scratches, dents and mismatching panels that were probably covering holes in its shell. Its head was held on by to metal rods and a clamp on either side and was coloured white, blue and silver with panels in different shades of green and grey. There was a large blue grip track round the centre of the droid. It also had a cracked lens and bent two antennae. Footsteps followed the droid.

"C4, please be careful. I know you can't see too well at the moment but just go slow. Ok?" The blonde girl from Tuanul, I could recognise those bright blue eyes anywhere. She then looked at me, "Good to see someone's awake, and you had a nasty crash, nobody has managed to find you friend, Finn. A group found remains of the ship by a sink hole several hundred miles away but no body or injured being." She gave me a half hearted smile before handing me the tray she was carrying. "I made you breakfast and there's a bowl of clean water over there," She pointed to her rusted mirror. "There's a ship dock at Kelvin Ridge that should either be able to take you to wherever it is that you come from or offer communication." She stepped back, stumbling after knocking into her droid, who protested with a couple of loud bleeps. "Oh, god. Sorry C4."

"And what about you?" I asked. "It's obvious you're not from here." I spoke without thinking.

"What do you mean? How is someone from Jakku supposed to look?" She questioned, although hr expression as more of that of someone playing a game then trying to defend them self.

"I didn't mean that. I just saw that you have a Rebel Alliance badge by your wash bowls."

"You know what this is? I've had it for as long as I can remember." She said, looking at the badge in disbelief before going to retrieve it.

"Come with me. We could always use more help." I replied.

She pulled out a gun and pointed it at me. "Who are and where in hell do you come from?"

That changed quickly. I stood up and put my hands up in surrender.

"Wow, wow, wow. I'm Poe Dameron, Commander and Black Leader of the Resistance X-Wing Squadron." I held a hand out towards her.

She looked at the hand before looking back at me and lowering her gun. "You're a Resistance Pilot?" She asked.

"The best in the galaxy." I replied, amping up the charm and pride to try and make her laugh.

She giggled, putting a hand over her mouth and taking my hand with the other, shaking it. "Attora Ken, this is C4-F2." She pointed to the rotary droid."I've wanted nothing more than getting away from this death pit, the only thing is I have no way of getting off." She paused, thinking.

I looked at Attora, confused.

"I have little money. I have enough for some food for lunch before I have to go and either find some extra work or borrow." Her expression quickly changed from hope to panic. "I have a half working ship. The engine turns on; I just can't afford the parts to make it fly."

"How much does it cost?" I asked.

"1200 credits, I only have 500. Unless we find something to trade or you have another 700 credits."

I reached into the pocket of my trousers; the leather pouch General Leia had given me with a way out in case I got stuck on Jakku was still there. I emptied the contents into my hand.

"Where did you Kyber crystals?" Her eyes were staring at them, all wide eyed with excitement.

"Will they be enough? They're only fragments."

"One will be plenty to get 2nd hand hyper drive. New ones are too rare to even bother about." She replied.

"What ship do you have?" I asked. She smiled at me and led to the back of the sand hut.

"A really old one." She said, looking out of the window. "It's a T-47 Airspeeder. Or, the majority of it is."

"Can we get a hyperdrive that'll get us to D'Qar?"

"Almost certainly" She replied.

She grabbed a bag and I followed her and C4 out the front door and into the town.

I felt bad for Finn; I had no idea if he was dead or alive. There were no visible tracks and a search party had been looking for him all day. I also had no chance of finding BB-8, I had no idea where to start looking. For now, the most sensible thing to do would be to get back the Resistance, and Attora was the best bet I had.

Attora's POV

It didn't take that long to find the part. We found a fully functioning hyperdrive at Greggo's Engine Shack. He charged us three Kyber fragments for it, which was severely overpriced. C4 lugged the part back to my shack and only took another hour to fix it in. I checked it was working before causing C4 to pack. My droid had the ability to compact itself into a box, the poles holding is head detached and reconnected to form a handle.

I left Poe to find somewhere to store C4 while I packed the small amount of belongings I had, not forgetting the Rebel Alliance badge that Poe had pointed out this morning, I also had to drop the keys off at Pucko and Vara's.

When I got there, I knocked on the door. It was opened by a young Twi-Lek girl known as Shenti; she was adopted by Pucko and Vara after the Tuanul disaster. She was sweet, but very shy.

"Meme, Toro's here." Toro was what she called me. It meant strong sister in Twi-Lek, Meme was Twi-Lek for mother protector.

"Ok, darlin'. Hold on." With that, Shenti scarpered off. "Hello Attora, Pucko's in the kitchen." She hugged me, before then looking into my eyes. Her expression was sorrowful.

"Wash day by any chance?" I asked, trying to her cheer up.

"I knew the day would come where you'd leave. It was inevitable; you're too much of a free spirit to be trapped in a wasteland. You're mother's the same, or was the same. When she was-"

"Vara, please. Don't talk about my parent's if you're not going to tell me who they are." I begged her. I couldn't face any more sleepless nights wondering who they were and what they did.

I walked into the kitchen; the familiar smell of Pucko's cooking reminded me of coming home after a day of school at Cratertown's Youth Centre. Nothing but good memories there, it was where I had learned to fix and fly ships, fix various machinery. I learnt my trade there. Now I was leaving.

"I bought the keys and my last rent payment. I need to get back; Poe and I want to leave before nightfall." I told him.

"Keep the money. I don't need it. Just promise me you'll keep yourself as safe as possible and that you'll stay in contact?" He handed me an old metallic circular object. I looked at it, recognising what it was almost immediately. "It was left with you but was damaged. I've only just got it fixed as the parts are small and very fragile."

I smiled to myself, staring at the travel size hologram projector. I felt a single tear travel down my face and had no idea why.

"I need to go." I said, my voice breaking, as I whipped away the tear.

"Well hold on a second, we'll see you off." I nodded and the three of them followed me back down the road and round to the back of the hut I lived in.

I hugged the three of them goodbye before taking my place in the co pilot/gunman seat as Poe took the pilot seat. I was decent at flying but nowhere near Poe's level of expertise.

"You'll be fine. And you'll love it on D'Qar, no sand, no deadly heat and an engineer shack to die for." I know Poe was only trying to distract me, but I didn't need it.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine. I'm not nervous, I just don't fly much." I replied.

The feeling of leaving Jakku for the first time, possibly in my life, was amazing. Yes, I'd miss Pucko and Vara, they were as close to family as I'd probably ever get, and Shenti even though I didn't know her that well.

Seeing space for the first was even more amazing. The colours of the planets, the star systems, the different star ships flying around. The stories I'd been told over the years were nothing compared to the reality of it.

Landing on D'Qar blew my mind a third time. The people running around, the fact we had survived in a ship that hadn't flown since getting scrapped, the fact I was in another part of the galaxy.

Poe and I got out the ship and he smiled at me, it was a very cheeky smile but a smile none the less. My emotions took over and I hugged him, he hugged me back. I unloaded C4 and returned him to his normal slightly wonky and damaged state before Poe led me to the Base Hub to meet General Organa.

For the first time in my life, I felt free. And for the first time in my life, I was so nervous that I was on the border of shaking.

I stopped, hesitating. Poe looked back at me and I looked at him.

I took a deep breath to calm myself before I followed him into the Resistance Base.

And into my new life.


	5. Chapter 4: The Start of a New Life

Chapter 4- The Start of a New Life

Attora's POV

My first impression of the Resistance Base overwhelmed me. In Cratertown, the Resistance was constantly mocked regarding their lack of modern technology, lack of new edition ships and for being hopelessly under manned forcing many member to work several different jobs. I didn't care though, it was so much more than anyone could imagine. I got so distracted by staring at various parts of the underground base that I hadn't realised that Poe and I had made our way to the General.

"General Organa, this is Attora Ken. She helped me to get off of Jakku." His voice bought me back to the task at hand, being to meet the General.

Leia didn't look up right away. Instead, she quickly signed a document given to her by one of the Lieutenants before then greeting Poe and me.

"Ah, of course." She started, looking at Poe before then looking at me. The look in her eyes seemed familiar, motherly and apologetic for some reason. I don't know why as I had never meant her before. "Attora Ken," she shook her head, probably trying to get a thought out of it. "Thank you for the service you've provided for the Resistance."

"I only did what I hope someone would do for me if I were in a similar situation Ma'am." I replied.

"Well, either way, thank you. What can I offer you in return?" The General asked.

"A place here, General." Poe said before I could say anything else. "Attora is a brilliant engineer. She re-modelled the Airspeeder we arrived in herself, made C4-F2 and is an amazing co-pilot. With a bit of training, she would make a formidable member of any squadron."

I appreciated Poe Dameron's faith in me, but he hardly knew me. I was in control of the guns while we were on our way to the base. He had never seen me in control of my own ship. Yes, I had a small amount of pilot training while I was at school, but that was more for the defence of Cratertown then to be part of an X-Wing Squadron in the Resistance. It made me wonder how much faith Dameron was ready to put in a stranger. My face must have shown the shock at Poe's words due to the question that followed.

"Do you not have as much faith in yourself as Commander Dameron, Miss Ken?"

"No, it's not...well, yes. But I will do anything I can and anything you see me fit to do to help the cause." I tried my best to sound respectful and a part of the Resistance but, in truth, I was frightened of letting down everyone here because one man had very high expectations of me.

All of a sudden, a whirring came from the main door into the base. C4 came running through the crowd of Resistance members in the communications centre, bashing into walls and computers. Nobody minded until a Lieutenant fell to the floor.

"Lieutenant Brance, are you alright?" Leia asked.

"Yes, General. Just an accident." He replied.

"I'm sorry; C4 can't see things very well. I haven't managed to replace my droids lens." I had to apologise, it would be rude not to.

"The droid's yours? That is some fine work but it's a little tattered isn't it?" Leia asked.

"He is what he is. He's been a companion of mine since I was young. I have never had the money or technology to fix him properly."

"Poe, take Attora to the engineer shed and introduce her to Atro. He will fix any and all parts of C4 that you ask him to. Then introduce Attora to the other pilots. I leave her in your command, it is your soul responsibility to train her and instruct Jessika to show her to the dorms as she will be sharing a room with her and Kare Kun." Leia instructed, "And welcome to the Resistance Miss Ken. I don't expect you to fly right away and you will be a member of the reserve until both you and Poe think you are ready unless a worse situation arises."

"Yes General Organa." Poe replied, I was too speechless to say anything else.

We left the Communications Centre and made our way to the engineer hut, with C4 trailing behind us. The droid had his head hanging in regret, he was an odd droid and blamed himself for a lot of what he did even though the majority of those incidents.

"Cheer up, C4. You're only getting a new lens. I won't ask them to change anything else, I promise." With that, his head perked back up.

Poe looked at me and laughed a bit, making me smile. Because of this man, I had a place in the Resistance; I had a job, a teacher. I was part of a greater cause and it was worth it even if it meant giving up everything I knew.

A few minutes later, we made it to the engineer shed. Atro was in his late forties, probably early fifties. He was a kind and gentle man with rough hands stained black with oil and an old scare blurred his left eye into a mess of colour and white marks. The scare was soon forgotten and replaced by his warm smile.

"I knew a girl like you once. You shared a name and it appears you share a scare to. That girl died young, though, at the betrayal of a brother." He touched one hand to the scare on the right side of my chin. Not many people paid attention to it anymore, but these people didn't know me.

"It was an accident caused by a classmate back on Jakku, nothing more." Atro looked at me in a way that questioned whether or not what I said was the truth. "C4 just needs his lens and antennae replaced nothing more. I don't want him to lose character and the General said you would take care of it."

"Well, you have a lot to do, I hear. Meeting the pilots, training, there may even be a few ships to fix. Good luck, little one. May the force be with you."

Being referred to as little one struck a chord, not in an offensive way, but in a way that I recognised and yet seemed like a distant dream all at once. Atro said the C4 would be ready by tomorrow morning and said that he would even clean him for me as it was regulation for when a droid was fixed or edited.

Next on the list was to meet the other pilots. Some of them were away on various missions so there were only a few left. At the moment there were only ten pilots in total with more being trained, but they were too young to fight. There had been more pilots, and more squadrons, but many had died by the hands of the First Order.

"Attora, let me introduce you to Temmin Wexley, Jessika Pava and Lieutenant Bastien." He pointed to each of them in turn. "The others are either eating or on patrol. I'm sorry I couldn't introduce you to them."

Someone called Poe away after that. All of a sudden, Jessika hugged me and welcomed me.

"Please, call me Jess. And Wexley here prefers to be called Snap, it's a long story. And Bastien is just Baz. What should we call you?" She asked, releasing me from the tight hug.

"Everyone calls me Attora, although the General seems to call me Miss Ken." I replied.

"Ken it is then. It'll just be a nickname and soon you'll have your own call card." Snap told me.

"Ken will be fine, thank you." I replied.

"Well, we best be off. You'll like our cabin, and it's great to have another room mate." Jess smiled at me before taking my hand and dragging me off towards the back of the X-Wing hanger we were currently stood in.

Jess took me up a flight of steep, rocky steps. Some of which were broken up by various tree roots, the corridors lit by small lights and candles. Jess unlocked a door before holding it open and letting me go in first.

"This is where all the pilot's stay. It doesn't matter if they're students, reserve or part of a squadron. Poe, Snap and Bastien are in the room across from ours. Ello, Nien and Ryan are in the room next to ours where as L'ulo and Oddy share the room opposite theirs. It's generally three to a room and we share a small kitchen for snacks and drinks. Each room has and en suite." She unlocked our room before giving me a set of keys. "We share a room along with Kare Kun, as we're the only female pilot's. If we ever do get into a relationship, we get moved to other quarters. It's an odd ideal, but still. This is your bed." She said, pointing to an unmade bed.

The beds were bunk beds, with both beds of one being made up. Jess left me to settle in and unpack my things but before long there was a knock on the door. I opened it hesitantly to find the General stood there giving me a warm smile.

"Poe was worried and said that you didn't have many belongings. I've found some clothes that have been unclaimed in lost property and some bedding. I could only find one matching pillowcase though." She handed me a pile of clothes and the bedding which included a blue sheet, duvet cover and pillowcase as well as a white pillowcase. I smiled back at her, nodding in thanks.

"You're a quiet one, aren't you? Anyway, these clothes should keep you a bit warmer. After all, you aren't in Jakku anymore." She smiled again before making her way out of the room.

"Thank you, and I'm sorry. I'm just nervous and homesick. I'll be fine in a day or two." I tried to seem a bit livelier, but a new place and life made me nervous.

"How did you get that Airspeeder to fly across that galaxy? It's a land ship; they can't fly above a planet's atmosphere." She suddenly asked.

"The shell and interior are parts from several Airspeeders. The engine parts belong to various X-Wings and Tie fighters. The engine parts have been put in differently, I just used an Airspeeder shell because it was bigger. I originally made it on my adoptive father's request as the First Order became more prominent. It was originally made to get his wife and I away but then they took on a new ward so her life gained priority over Pucko and Vara's." I could feel a tear escape my eye as I remembered Shenti saying goodbye to me, privately.

*Flashback*

" _Good luck Toro!" She said between her tears, "I love you and I'll miss you."_

" _I'll come back for you when I can, I promise. We'll be a family again." I took something out of my bag and put it in her pocket. "That is one of my favourite possessions, when you miss me wear it round your wrist or attached to something, however you like. I'll always be with you then, even if I am not physically here myself."_

" _I love you Toro," She hugged me tight, her arms causing my neck a small pain. "That flying man better take care of you."_

 _I laughed at how she referred to Poe "I'm sure he will when he can, but I'll be by myself, mainly." I hugged her back._

 _All I gave her was a ribbon, it was pale blue, like Shenti's skin, and it sparkled like the stars she loved so much. All I did after that was watch as she, Pucko and Vara waved me off. Shenti choked back the tears as she grabbed hold of the ribbon, holding it to her cheek like many children held their toys._

*End of flashback*

"Their ward is a Twi-lek, she's a sweet girl." I don't know how Leia knew, but somehow she did.

"That was the first time she was ever confident around me. She was a survivor of the Tuanul disaster."

"You didn't abandon her, you will be making the galaxy a safer place for her and I'm sure there will be a place for her here when she is old enough."

"She is only 3 years old, you'll be waiting a while General." She laughed at my joke.

"You're becoming more confident already. Don't get too cocky though, I already have Poe for that. I don't need another." We both laughed and smiled at Leia pocking fun at Poe. "Good luck with your training tomorrow, Poe won't be easy on you so you best get some food and a good night's sleep while you still can."

The General was right, but it was all for the best.


	6. Chapter 5: Joining the Squadron

Chapter 5-Joining the Squadron

Poe's POV

It was haunting me. All of it. The torture, the pain, everyone's expectations of me. I'm good at what I do, I know that. But after everything that has happened over the past few days, I was beginning to wonder all of this was actually worth it.

"You're doubting yourself again." The General's voice came from behind me, I was cleaning my ship. "You always clean or fix your ship when you're doubting yourself."

The General had a familiar look that I had seen in someone else. I don't know who or where, déjà vu just flooded my head in waves.

"I'm 33 and the leader of all the X-Wing squadrons. It's nothing compared to most people but-"

"You're parents would've been proud of you Poe, and the man you've become." She interjected, "They were brave members of the Rebellion and dearly missed friends, but to dwell on the past is to be distracted from the future." She smiled before walking away.

Attora then came through the door that led to the pilot's cabins. It was 1am so she should be sleeping, as should I. She yawned as she came through the door, her hair messy from attempting to sleep.

"Can't sleep?" I asked her, laughing to myself as she tripped over a table leg.

"No, it's the first time I'm not going to wake up to having to fix this or that machine, the first time I'm not going to meet Pucko in the cantina in the late afternoon..."Attora's thoughts drifted off.

"It is the first time you'll fight for the galaxy, fly an X-Wing properly-"I started before someone else interrupted me.

"The first time you'll have to deal with us lot." Jessika Pava finished. I was too distracted by my own thoughts and emotions to realise she had even come in. "Kare Kun heard you leave and wondered if you were ok." She said to Attora, "Moving away from your family is a hard thing but we're all here for you."

"Thanks," Attora said, "I think I just need to walk." With that she started to walk off. Jess looked at me as Attora made her way to the hanger doors, sensing something; she then made her way in Attora's direction.

"Hey! Wait up!" Jess called to her.

I don't know what Jess thought I was thinking or feeling, but she knew something.

For a women four years younger than me, she sure seemed wiser then me the majority of the time.

Attora's POV

I ran, bare footed and in an old jumper, with leggings underneath, which were donated to me by Jess. I also knew she was following me.

I didn't know if I wanted to be alone or not, I just knew that I needed peace.

As soon as I got to the hanger doors, I ran. The air was cool against my face, unlike the air on Jakku.

I felt free and like I actually belonged somewhere and yet I was running. I stopped when I got to the top of a slope, catching sight of the blurred colours produced by nearby planets.

"Cool isn't it?" Jess asked from behind me, panting as she made her way up the slope.

"I never thought I'd get off Jakku. I hate that planet, the heat, the sand, it's all too much."

"What's your family like? They must be pretty descent to let you leave with some random pilot." She asked.

"My adoptive parents are members of the Verto Sapiec. They're slimy and smell a bit but they're the best parent figures I could've asked for. Shenti only came into the family about 5 days ago now. The first time she spoke to me was to say she loved me and was going to miss me. She's a blue Twi-Lek and completely adorable. What about yours?

"My dad's a politician and part of the Galactic Senate, he represents Dandoran which is where I'm from. My mum works at the nectar plants. I don't talk to them much."

"Why not?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"They think having a pilot for a daughter will give them a bad reputation. The fact that I fly for the Resistance just makes matters worse for them." She giggled a bit, shaking her head in disbelief. "I have teo younger brothers, both of which are in politics. They serve as part of my fathers council." I could see the sadness in her face as she remembered her family. "I haven't seen any of them in three years, I've had plenty of chances. They just don't want to see me." A tear travelled down her cheek. I couldn't help what came next.

I hugged her and before I knew it, I found myself saying "Well, see me as the sister you never had." It made her laugh and put a smile back on her face so it must've been the right thing to do.

"Come one," She started, dragging me back down the slope, "We both need to get some sleep. I've got mess hall duty tomorrow and you have pilot training."

"Don't remind me." I said sarcastically, my eyes dramatically rolling as she, again, laughed.

Training was going to hard, everyone told me several times over. But it was going to be worth it.

-Flight Training-

I knew I was a fast learner but I didn't realise how fast. I was orbiting D'Qar before lunchtime. Poe and I were put on the late lunch due to training.

"How was it?" Jess asked when we got to the serving benches. I was about to reply when Poe replied for me.

"Ken here is bloody amazing. I've already got her orbiting D'Qar, she'll be doing her final test before dinner tonight." He looked at me to see my reaction.

I was speechless. Final Pilot Tests were difficult, you're assessed by your fleet commander, a panel of at least three high ranking members as well as your leading general. "What!?" was all I could manage.

"General Organa watched your take off and landing, she thinks you're ready. You'll be marked by me, the general, Admiral Ackbar, Nien Nunb and Wexley." He took his food and then left me and Jess standing there, staring at one another.

"You've got to be mad." I said to Poe as I sat next to him at one of the tables. "I can't fly in front of three members of the Rebel Allianace and a Major." I could fell my hands shaking with nerves.

"So you do know about the Rebel Alliance. How come you didn't know what your badge was?" Seems I'm a bit stuck. I looked at him, probably blank faced yet scared at the same time.

"I know some things. I knew what the badge was, I just don't know how I got it."

"Hey, it's alright." Poe replied, "You'll do fine."

He was right. I passed.

I am now known as the pilot of Blue 4 as well as being one of three pilots to be accompanied by an astromech droid, the others being Poe and Jess, thanks to C4-F2.

Tomorrow was going to be a whole new experaince and one of the best days all at one time.

Whether or not I'm ready for it, though, I don't know.


	7. Chapter 6: The Fight for Takodana

AN: Hi guys, just a little treat in sight of Carrie Fisher's death. I have added a POV in this chapter in honour of her memory. I hope you enjoy it and...

 **May The Force Be With You!**

 **xxx**

* * *

Chapter 6: The Fight for Takodana

Leia's POV

"A gift for the pilot's." An envoy form Cloud City told me.

After the fall of the Empire, Lando Calrissian went back to Cloud City, wanting partial retirement from the Rebellion. He and his wife, Assandra, retired from the Rebellion when their youngest child was born.

Lando regularly sent gifts and supplies via smugglers, just to be safe. This shipment included Astro Droids for the pilots that didn't already own one as well as clothes and in ship tools. The pilots were good at their jobs but they used a lot of resources.

I was doing inventory for the shipment and distributing the Astro Droids among the pilots when my mind took over. Flashes of the past went through my mind. It made my heart ache. It had ached for years and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I wasn't a good mother, I knew that. I had endangered my family's lives, I had betrayed and disserted them. I had even sent the one man I had ever truly loved, against all odds, away.

But I couldn't let my past distract me, not now.

There is a chance to find my brother, although that chance keeps slipping through my fingers. My old friend, Lor San Tekka, had found the map to Luke. Only he got killed and the map placed with a droid that my most trusted pilot had risked his life to retrieve.

I was nearly finished with going through my traumatic memories when I entered the main communications centre, only to be bought out of them anyway.

"General Organa, we've found the droid." Lieutenant Connix informed me.

Connix was among one of the youngest members of the Resistance, but she was smart and definitely wasn't naive. She could hack into most comm systems and transmitions without being noticed by the opposition.

"Call everyone in. We'll have a quick mission briefing and then we'll be on our way." I replied.

"There's no doubt the First Order will be waiting for us, General. We need be logical in order to prevent too much loss of life. We cannot afford to lose our ranks." Admiral Ackbar, an old friend and loyal confident. He knew that I was already aware of what will be waiting for us but he still had to voice it. It was his way of preparing everyone for what was to happen.

BB-8 was on Takodana, at a cantina owned by an old friend of Han's. It was a neutral ground for all members of the galaxy, however, that did not mean it was safe from battle.

"The X-Wings will head in first. We will only be sending blue and red squadrons. Are the new recruits ready?" Lieutenant Brance asked Poe, looking to all of the blue and red squadron pilots.

"Yes Brance." Poe exclaimed, his typical mischievous smile gracing his face.

Brance then looked towards me. "Very well." I said, "May the Force be with you."

* * *

Attora's POV

Contrary to everyone else's opinion, I wasn't ready for this. I had never flown too far from D'Qar in my X-Wing and now I was flying across the galaxy on my first mission. I was terrified.

I changed into some thinner garments to wear under my pilot suit. I put on a long sleeved khaki t-shirts which I had cut a hole in the bottom of each sleeve for my thumb and put on a pair of thick leggings. The Resistance receives shipments of various clothing items among other items. I then put on the standard orange pilot suit and slipped on my new black combat boots. Jess and I helped each other with our control vests before grabbing our helmets and making our way to the ship docks.

Adrenaline suddenly rushed through my body as I saw C4-F2 get loaded into the droid bay of my X-Wing.

"You'll do great kid," Wexley started, giving me a quick one sided hug as he made his way to his own ship. "You're a great pilot, almost as good as Poe.

"Yeah! Hit the TIE-fighters and we'll be back by tea!" Niv Lek stated, a bit enthusiastically.

Niv Lek was another pilot, flying Blue 7. I was a replacement after my predecessor was currently being treated for burns after assisting foot soldiers in another battle. He was lively and a bit of a ladies' man, along with having a constant desire for food. He's a good friend of mine; all the pilots are now good friends of mine.

I took a deep breath and followed my fellow pilots to the docks. Jess came up to and gave me a quick hug before grabbing my hands and squeezing them, with me returning the gesture. I had become sort of a good luck handshake between the two of us.

"For the Resistance." She said.

"For the Resistance." I replied, nodding back at her.

I got into my X-Wing and followed Jess out, going into lightspeed as soon as we passed the planets orbital zone.

"Pilot's check in." Poe said.

We all replied in order. Red pilots 1-8 replied first with Blue 1-8 checking in after, Poe was known as Black Leader with Wexley being Blue Squadron's Captain and Riccard Une being Red Squadron's Captain, although we all referred to him as R1 as an inside joke.

"Ok, let's do this. Blue squadron with me, Red be ready for the attack. Everyone come out of hyperspace on my count." Poe started, "And 3, 2, 1!"

We flew into Takodana in a singular line formation. Poe was leading in the centre of the line with four of our squadron to either side. Red Squadron was lying dormant, waiting for the possibility we met an attack we couldn't handle.

"Go straight at them. Don't let these thugs scare you!" Poe chimed in.

"Copy that" Jess replied.

"We're with you Poe." Niv Lek stated.

I took a deep breath and broke with the formation as soon as we were about to hit the coast, pulling up to tangle with the TIE-Fighters.

It was such a rush, targeting the ships and firing the canons. It hurt to kill, but at the same time I was saving people. I could feel the surging conflict of morality in my chest every time I hit my target.

I pulled up further, causing my X-Wing to loop back round, spinning as I finished the loop. C4 wasn't so keen on it; I could hear him whirling through the speaker.

"Hold on to your head, C4, it's going to become more like this eventually."

He bleeped a reply, causing me to shake my head.

I helped with shooting at Stormtroopers until the First Order made their retreat and we were giving clearance to make our way back to D'Qar.

When we landed back on D'Qar, C4 was taken away to be cleaned. A lot of dust and rubble had stuck to him which needed to be cleaned before it damaged him permanently.

I could still feel the conflict of morals that I had felt throughout the battle. I tried to keep myself calm but I felt like I couldn't breathe. I pulled off my helmet and clutched at the ladder with my free hand to try to gain some support. I knew when I got here that killing was in my job description but no one ever tells you how much it hurts nor do they tell you how confused it makes you.

I saw Poe and a friend of his appear from round the front of my ship and make their way to me. I put my helmet into its case and closed my eyes.

I took a deep breath before my eyes opened to see C4-F2 gently nudge at what must be BB-8 before Poe and his friend got to me.

There's no turning back now.

* * *

Poe's POV

I could see the conflict on Attora's face from the other side of the ship docks. Her ship was kept n the left docks where as mine was kept on the right docks, the side of which being determined by which side of the main communications centre it was on.

I was reunited with my new friend, Finn, a defected Stormtrooper just after being reunited with BB-8. We greeted each other before making our way over to Attora. I needed to see if she was ok and I wanted to introduce my rescuers to one another anyway, so I took Finn with me before taking him to the comm centre.

"Attora, this is Finn. He rescued me from the First Order in return for taking hi-"I started,

"The other one from the crash, the one we couldn't find." She finished, holding her hand out towards Finn. "I found Poe. He collapsed a fair way from the crash, which is why we probably couldn't find you."

"We?" Finn asked.

"The people who reside in Cratertown. It's the main city on Jakku. Poe recruited me after he woke and helped fixed my edited Airspeeder."

"I'm just taking Finn to meet with General Organa regarding what happened and the girl Kylo Ren took. Are you going to be ok?" I asked after the conversation between Finn and Attora came to an awkward halt.

"Yeah. Kare Kun, Jess and I are going to the food hall to chat and have a drink before Wexley's debrief. I'm sure you'll know if I start freaking out." Attora tried her best to seem confident, but I could tell she wasn't.

We quickly said goodbye before I led Finn to Leia. They had a quick conversation before Finn left to talk to another newcomer, Han. Also known as the smuggler turned Rebellion General.

I left to do my mission report. It was the boring paper work which I had to fill out after each mission in order to detail ship damages, life losses and other matters including the damage done to the battle ground and surrounding areas so the Republic can offer some form of compensation to the areas civilians.

The Red Squadron weren't too happy with having to fly to Takodana and not be utilised but it was going to give us an edge on future battles. Besides, the Red and Blue Squadrons take turns to be the primary fighting squadron with each small battle we partake in. It made things far.

It just happened to be Blue Squadron's turn, it just also happened to be that all of us pilots have become adrenaline junkies over the past few battles, due to the high amount of smaller battles that had to be fought.

Attora was amazing for a first timer. Every now and then she came into focus, shooting down TIE-Fighters as if it were target practise.

There was also another thing. Every time I saw her, I recall my first sighting of her, her awkwardness the day I woke up after the crash. I was distracted by everything about her every time I saw her. The fact that she was an excellent pilot just made her that much more attractive, as did her kindness and every other aspect of her personality.

I can't let my feelings for her distract me from my job, though. I don't even know if 'Ken, as she's come to be known amongst the pilots, feels the same way.

I have a job to do and pilots to lead as well as enemies to defeat.

I don't have time for love, not now.


	8. Chapter 7: Always and Forever

Chapter 7: Always and Forever

Attora's POV

I hadn't touched my drink since I got it. I was distracted by screams echoing inside my head, I had no recollection of a battle or execution when I was in earshot of hearing people scream, but they were there. My hand clenched around the glass, it wasn't until I heard people gasping that I had realised it shattered in my palm. Luckily my hands were covered by my makeshift sleeve gloves so I didn't hurt myself.

"Hey Ken, you ok?" Kare Kun asked, I didn't move.

"Let me talk to the girl." A man's voice said before Jess and Kare moved to another table and the man sat down. "First battle huh?" I nodded in response.

"Now, I'm gonna guess, Mos Eisley?" I looked up to find the grey haired man Finn had arrived with.

"Cratertown actually." I gave him a half hearted attempt at a smile.

"Well, everyone nowadays seems to be from Jakku. You got a family?" He took a gulp of the green nectar in his cup; I generally preferred the blue kind as it was sweeter.

"No one related by blood or marriage if that's what you mean." I could feel myself calming down.

"Did one of them give you that?" He asked, nodding his head at my necklace, as well as pointing towards it. "I notice it glows sometimes."

"Vara, my landlord's wife, gave it to me on my last birthday. It glows when I think of home, apparently."

"So either you miss home, or you've never been home. You're a good kid, ummm-"He lost his train of thought as he realised he didn't know my name.

"Attora." I filled in.

"Attora, I'm Han." He replied. "This job will never get easier, but if you think about those you're helping and not those you're killing, you'll feel slightly better. But no one can stop you from leaving either."

"I don't want to leave. I'm not weak." I replied.

"Good. She's all yours girls." Han got up and walked over to this great, hairy, walking carpet like thing.

Wexley kept his debrief short. It had been a very active day for all of us and the less sleep we are able to get, the more likely we are to crash or hurt someone we're not supposed to.

I decided to do what I did when I was younger and wash all of the pain and negative emotions away. I ran my fingers through my hair to wash out the soap when the screaming came back. I felt my knees buckle and my eyes close before I saw it. A dark, wet landscape and then a streak of bright green. I opened my eyes to find blood in my hands and more blood dripping down my shoulders from where I had dug my nails into my scalp.

I turned the water off and got out, changing into some of the newly donated clothes we had been given after the debrief. I had on a pair of grey leggings and a blue sleeping shirt that was a size or two too big but I couldn't moan. It was a cold night so I slipped on a pair of my old socks and got under my covers. Then Jess turned the light on.

"You've never told us much about Jakku, Attora." She stated in the dim light.

"It's a scorching, sandy wasteland like Tatooine. There isn't really much to tell you." I replied, staring at the ceiling.

"What about your family? Surely you remember something?" Kare asked. "Mine are still on my home planet, Sarq 22. It's just my mum and two older brothers."

"And you know my story."Jess said, "You've told me about your family, but not much about life on the 'scorching, sandy wasteland' you call home."

"All I know about my biological family is that they left for a war and never came back, I was apparently 14 when that happened. I was schooled in the commune centre with the other kids from Cratertown and showed a talent for piloting ships and fixing machinery. I joined the CT pilot Academy when I was 17, although I never left Jakku's atmosphere, and I became an engineer after I graduated."

"Oh...wow. I'm sorry hun." Kare said, "About your folks."

"It's alright, I don't remember much before Pucko and Vara found me. I only know that because it's what they've told me."

Jess then turned off the light and the three of us went to sleep, or so I thought.

Poe's POV

Things were changing. We all knew it was happening but our subconscious was choosing to ignore the inevitable.

It was terrifying, what we were all about to face. We can all put on a brave smile and pretend what we're doing is just an everyday task, and for some people it might seem that way.

I often wondered if my mother had felt the same way during the Rebellion. It was a feeling along the lines of 'We could all be killed in our sleep' and yet it was also a 'we could win this' feeling. It was odd none the less.

I went to bed peacefully that night, for once. Contrary to open, every kill we make hangs on our shoulders for our entire lives, some people just buckled easily. I guess knowing that the Resistance hadn't suffered this time and that Finn was ok helped me to rest.

What I woke to in the morning was something else.

I woke to hear hurried bleeping and other sounds outside the door, along with banging. I knew it wasn't BB-8 because it was in the engineer shed having dents removed and being cleaned. I opened the door to find C4, Attora's bulky astromech bashing at the door ledge.

The droid's head spun round to look at the room opposite. Apparently I was the last to wake up.

I got dressed and went to the pilot debrief centre where Snap and I held our after mission debriefing, taking it in turns. That was when Finn ran in, followed by Jess and Kare.

"We can't find Attora...anywhere." Jess said between gulps.

It was reasonably early in the morning; General Organa had planned for use to leave for Starkiller Base this evening, as one of Finn's friends had been taken while on Takodana once a plan of action was made.

"Try the Blue 4 cockpit." L'ulo said as he entered the room. "She's fine"

True enough, there she was. Attora was covered in a blanket and asleep in the cockpit of her X-Wing.

L'ulo coughed loudly and woke her up. Attora jumped and then started panting.

"Hurt." She said, "They're hurting someone."

"Take her to Leia," None of us had realised Han had joined us. "She'll help her."

There was a look of sorrow in Han's face, that mixed with regret. I don't know why he looked the way he did. It was odd, but then I didn't really know the guy.

Jess helped Attora out as a bell came through the comm in the Blue 4 ship shed, signalling everyone to wake up.

Jess had been told to leave Attora and Leia to have a private talk and came back to the debrief centre, where we were all waiting.

Once Attora came back, along with both permission and a request to fly, we found out we were going to be leaving for our first main battle sooner than we had thought.

We said are goodbye's to everyone that afternoon after our briefing and left.

This was going to be a hard fight, but it would be worth it.

Attora's POV

I was making my way over to my ship when something caught my eye. The Millennium Falcon, in all its beat up glory, caught the sun with the reflection slightly blinding.

I saw Han and Finn, as well as what I now know to be a Wookie named Chewbacca, loading up the Falcon. I had no control over my actions, and no way to stop them. What happened next even surprised me.

I coughed and then said "Excuse me," to Han, he stood up and looked down at me. "I don't know why," I started "But I feel like I know you and that-" I was cut off by Han hugging me, he whispered in my ear before letting me go.

"May the force be with you, always and forever."


End file.
